The Trouble With Tea Leaves
by Xekstrin
Summary: A sequel to Apples After Midnight and Perfect First Pancakes exploring little facets of the life of our two favorite members of Ooo royalty share together. My goal is to write 50,000 words of Marceline/Bubblegum smut and fluff... Also known as "50 Shades of Red".
1. Chapter 1

In the dark, quiet pre-dawn, there isn't much for her to entertain herself with. Elsewhere in Ooo, this wouldn't be the case— even within the Candy Kingdom, the fruit bats would be flying around now, clustering to and fro and no doubt causing a headache for the gardeners who maintained the orchards. She would have gleefully aided in their destruction if she could, one flat-nosed carnivorous outsider among the fox-faced masses. Many, many orphaned baby bats owed their survival to her presence on some of the flights, her menacing aura a deterrent to any predator looking for a quick snack. Most of the time she bring them back to their parents, but every so often on her visits she would spot a few she had fostered until they were ready to fly.

Right now, though, boredom set her to pacing the room, the tips of her toes trailing along the rich carpeted floor. She ran her hand along the pool table Bonni had commissioned for her private chambers, biting back a grin as she passed it. To play a solo practice game to pass the time was out of the question. Too much noise. Same with any hand exercises on the guitar. Briefly toying with the idea of going out somewhere to stretch her wings, Marceline discarded it out of hand, returning instead to the fevered, rasping form resting on the bed. Trying to be unobtrusive, she checked Bonni's temperature again. It still hadn't gone down.

If Marceline from merely 50 years ago could see who she was today, she would have burned alive with shame, certain her reputation forever tarnished. Even if she had always been a little soft, she never showed it. She certainly didn't foster baby bats and play nurse to spoiled princesses. She also didn't have any friends. No real friends, anyway. No one who was brave enough to acknowledge softness as… Well, maybe not a great thing, but also not the worst thing a person could be, either. That expressing your feelings wasn't always something to be ashamed of.

As if sensing her thoughts about him, Finn stirred on the couch, letting out a little snore.

Though she'd rather chew her foot off than admit Finn's genuine affection had been the first she had received in centuries, she was certain he knew it, on some instinctual level. Maybe when they were all a little older, she's be less scared to tell him.

Till then, there he was, doing his best to help his friends. Though he'd tried to stay awake with Marceline, it was hard for him without any adrenaline speeding him up or monsters to slay. Standing vigil at a sick person's bed was a lot of worrying and boredom, and he'd passed out a few hours ago. It was around four in the morning, now, just a bit longer before she'd have to secure the windows shut to keep out the light. Deciding that pacing wasn't doing much to pass the time, either, Marceline finally settled down to kneel in front of the window, settling down into an almost dead state, eyes locked on the horizon. She had hibernated whole years like this, buried deep underground— a few hours would be nothing.

The hands in the clock inched along.

It began a gentle chiming at six thirty in the morning, rousing her from her meditative thoughts. Finn and Bonni both were trying to get up, Finn struggling against the blankets wrapped around him and Bonni coping with her illness.

"Am I still sick?" she asked, bleakly peering around the room. "I think I feel lucid today. That's good." As though functioning specifically to prove her wrong, she seized up with a renewed fit of wracking coughs, spitting hazy white phlegm into the waste basket next to her bed. "Ohhh."

She rang for Peppermint Butler, who came up within minutes carrying a steaming mug of strong tea and a bowl of soup. Bonni blanched at the sight, turning her head away. "Ugh. Just the tea, please."

"You haven't eaten anything in almost two days," Marceline noted, keeping her distance. She didn't want Bonni to start complaining about her hovering. "And you should probably try to sleep some more. You were up half the night."

Puffing his chest out with pride, Finn chimed in, "And I haven't left your side once, princess!"

Marceline tossed her hair over her shoulder with a flick of her head. "Yeah, and that. Anyway, good to know you're alive."

Heedless of anything they were saying, Bonni kept on with her orders for Peppermint Butler. "Fetch me some lab clothing, something with long sleeves. I'm off to formulate a cure for this illness now that my basic faculties have returned to me."

Eyebrows bunching together, Marceline looked from P Butts to Bonni and back again, biting her lip to keep quiet. It was Finn who said it, thank gob. "But princess! Isn't it better to rest until you're better? What if you get even sicker from lab germs?"

Glad that there was no need to be quiet any longer, Marceline let out a loud sigh. "Let her be, Finn. This whole being sick business is cutting into Princess Duties. Am I right?" That last part was directed to Bonni, who was carefully limping over to the bathroom.

"Mm," she said before closing the door. A short hiss; the shower ran, and steam began coiling beneath the doorway. Stressed to the point of pulling off his hat and chewing on it, Finn turned his pleading gaze onto Marceline.

"C'mon, Marcy!" he said, flapping the hat at her. "You know she's working herself too hard! Isn't that what the doctor said? That she needs bed rest?"

Floating parallel to the floor, Marceline shrugged, frowning deeply. Her fangs were visible, jutting out in a pouting grimace. "What do you want me to do? She's an adult, I can't lock her up in her room."

"You could back me up a little! If anyone can convince Peebs to take a break its you, right?"

This was curious. Twitching her head slightly, she turned to face him fully, waiting for him to explain himself. "What do you mean?" she asked, genuinely curious.

It was a little hard for him to get past. Twisting his poor, abused hat some more, his eyes alighted on every corner of the room, searching for an escape. "You… You know. You two. You're her girlfriend. Right?"

Marceline just grinned.

Blood rushed to his face. "Oh, come on," he fumbled. "I'm not dumb, I mean, I know I crushed on her, but I'm over it, it's totally cool, I mean it's just a little weird because we're all friends and I don't know how to deal with that… But that's not the point!" His scarred fingers flared out, hands waving as though his words were a chalk board and he could wipe it clean. "Just do your girlfriend thing! Right?"

Even then, she might not have done anything until Peppermint Butler spoke up. "Finn has a point, you know," he said, eyeing her, expression unreadable. "You could at least try."

Twisting her lips, Marceline thought it over. "No promises. Bonni's headstrong."

No sooner had she finished speaking than the water cut off. The three of them waited for

Bonni to emerge, scrubbed clean but still looking as though someone had scraped her off the bottom of a trash bin. "Marceline, could you carry me down to the lab?" she said as she molded her hair into something like a bun, the ends of her words scratched as sandpaper.

Setting her feet down on the floor, Marceline leveled with her before speaking. A calm, clear, "No."

It took a moment to process. "What… Why?" she probably thought her fever was clouding her hearing. "Are you just being deliberately willful or do you have some reason you won't help me with this very simple task?"

"You're sick and you need rest. Some things can't be whisked away by magic or science— trust me, I know. I've tried." Lifting herself into the air, she put a hand on Bonni's upper arm, squeezing gently. "Hey, P-Butts. Could you change her majesty's sheets and boil em till they're whiter than fangs again? Gotta get to disinfecting this joint."

The butler gave a short bow and got to work as Bonni and Marceline started having a tense, but quiet, argument.

"Let go of me," Bonni hissed, yanking herself free. Marceline gladly let her go, but it still caused her to dizzily sit down on one of the chairs, head in her hands, groaning low and painful.

Marceline used this as her proof. "See? Look! You can't even stand."

"I won't be standing, most of the time."

"Peebs, every year you say you're going to cure the flu, and you never do." She ignored the way this sting at her pride darkened Bonni's face, even if she was only telling the truth. "How is this time gonna be any different, except for the fact that you're more likely to pass out this year?"

"This year I have incentive. If you're not going to— Finn!" She abruptly changed tactics. "Please escort me to the lab?"

Turning white as his hat, Finn looked to Marceline for salvation. She understood, then, why he was so bent on her being the one to convince Bonni to stay. Even now, as her champion, he found it almost impossible to say no to her. Maybe it was the last vestige of his crush on her, maybe it was just his inability to say no to someone asking for help. It made no difference. Marceline knew he would be know help here. But once Bonni was set on something, it was like trying to divert the course of a flooded river.

So when all else fails, resort to the absurd.

"You can't," Marceline said, blocking the doorway as Bonni tried to leave without Finn, seeing that he was frozen with indecision. "Because I order you not to."

That triggered a pure reaction out of her, bright enough to burn right through her fever. Nostrils flared, Bonni stood up straighter. "And what gives you the right to order me around?" she demanded. "Do I need to remind you whose kingdom this is?"

Marceline asked a question in turn. "I might be some punk queen or whatever, but you know what else I am?" she pointed to the pool table, grinning now. "The winner of last summer's pool tournament."

It clicked at once.

"No."

"And you were the loser," Marceline reminded her anyway. "And the loser had to give 24 hours of service to the winner, the date chosen at their discretion. Am I right?"

Bonni didn't say anything.

"Well?"

"That was just a— a game, you can't seriously—"

Marceline's eyebrow pricked up. "Are you going back on our deal, nerd? I thought Candy monarchs are made of nobler stuff."

"Look, you can't just—"

Swooning a bit, Bonni was forced to sit down again, her angry rant cut short by another coughing fit. Peppermint had refitted the bed, the pillow fluffed and ready for her. One could almost see the calculations running through her head, weighing potential risk against potential gain. Finally she glared at Marceline, cheeks puffing out as she said… "No take backs. You want 24 hours, you get 24 hours. You don't get to paused half way through and save them for another date. Got it?"

Finn let out a breath none of them knew he had held, falling back onto his couch. Chuckling, Marceline swept up the princess in her arms, setting her back down on the bed and planting a kiss on her forehead. "You really don't know how to appreciate it when someone's doing something nice for you, do you?"

The princess grumbled, but didn't fully argue. The tea had cooled enough for her to drink it now, and at the behest of Marceline ("MISSTRESS Marceline.") she gulped down half her soup as well, even if it didn't sit quite right. When she finished, Peppermint Butler took it away, glancing down at the empty mug to make sure she had downed all of it.

"Want to know your fortune?" he asked before he left, waving the empty mug at her. Marceline and Finn glanced at each other in confusion, but Bonni knew what he meant, because she just fluttered her hand at him. Yes, yes.

Peering into the cup, he hemmed and hawed over it for a bit before declaring the fortune he had read in the tea leaves. "You're all due for quite a bit of excitement," he said, bowing as he exited.

"What else is new?" they all wondered aloud. Startled at their unconscious synchronization, they all fell silent for a beat before laughing, suddenly more glad than they had been just moments before at the fact that they were all friends.


	2. Chapter 2

There wasn't much time to prepare. "Better bundle up!" was all Marceline said, cheerfully tossing a jacket into her arms. Fumbling with it, Bonnibel barely had time enough to slip her arms through the sleeves before Marceline scooped her up into a bridal carry, flying across Ooo faster than she could keep track of the landmarks. All she knew was that they were flying at an alarming altitude and very, very fast. Shrinking closer to her consort— "consort" because "Girlfriend" sounded too juvenile and "partner" too serious— she stammered something about her flu and the night air being too cold, but Marcy smelled that bullshit two miles away and laughed at her, relaxing her grip just enough for Bonni to panic a little.

"You're not really scared of heights, are you?" They climbed higher into the clouds, bursting through the dark vapors to emerge at the clear, smooth area above them. "You ride Lady and the Morrow all the time and never get all shrinking violet on them."

Bonni sneezed, not enjoying the dampness that now clung to her clothes. "Not this high," she complained. "And now I'm cold and wet. So, thanks. For that."

Taking that as a cue to slow done, Marceline kissed Bonni's cheek in apology. Twirling midair, she flew with Bonni resting on her stomach, straddling her waist. "Told you to bundle up," she said, letting the princess sit up enough to finish buttoning her jacket. "We're going on a date tonight, missy."

Her nose red as a fresh cherry, Bonni sneezed again. "You scoundrel," she said, affectionately. "Wasn't I supposed to be bed ridden for another week? I can recall something along those lines involving your teeth, and a very frightened doctor making sure that was my diagnosis."

Either windswept or embarrassed, Marcy's cheeks began to flush with color. Her hands laced together under her head, putting less strain on her neck and giving her the appearance of lying out somewhere— a mossy meadow or a cave floor, not several thousand yards above the ground. "Yeah, well, you need a break. One week of no work. P-Butts can take care of things with the notes you gave him, right?"

"Right."

She kept pressing. "And you got sick because you stressed yourself out too much, right?"

Bonni rolled her eyes.

"Okay, well, you get my point. One week. Or at least five days." Reaching up to grab her, she pulled the princess down so their torsos were resting against each other, tucking Bonni's head under her chin. Once she was secure, Marceline sped up their flight. "Consider it an early vacation."

It wasn't long before they set down on the edge of a sinkhole, far beyond the borders of her kingdom. Getting down on her hands and knees to peer over the edge, Bonni was faced with an infinite blackness, and no sign at all of what had caused this seemingly endless pit. This was their date, it seemed. An adventure in spelunking, for no doubt this opening in the ground led to some sort of cavern deep below. "Shouldn't we have bought flashlights?" Bonni asked, experimentally dropping a pebble into the pit and waiting to hear it sound back as it hit the ground. There was no response.

"We won't need em, eventually," Marceline promised, extending her hand to Bonni to help her up. Shrugging, Bonnibel wrapped her arms around Marceline's shoulders, stepping close and nodding quick. Holding her tightly, Marceline leaped over the edge and started descending, slow and easy to not frighten Bonni.

The light grew scarce, the inky night swelling around them. For a while Bonni could just look up to the shrinking circle above them to catch a glimpse of the night sky, but eventually they came to a curving U loop and that was lost as well. There was no difference between keeping her eyes closed or open any longer, so she just clung to Marceline, reassuring herself in the sensation. "This place used to be a mine," Marceline whispered, probably realizing that the darkness could become suffocating for someone not used to it. "Or a shelter that eventually expanded out, I'm not sure. But they didn't dig smart, and the ground fell down around them."

Not exactly the best thing she could have chosen to say. Maybe she was actually trying to freak Bonni out.

In a way, though, it was very peaceful. The hushed sound of her own breathing, her own heartbeat, and the stillness of Marceline's body coupled with her exhaustion to lull her to the edge of sleep. She hadn't been lying when she said she was still feeling the aftereffects of her flu, and was glad that she didn't have to walk anywhere. And the longer they were down there she realized that even here, there was life. Small, scratching bugs; the occasional bat flapping past, wingbeats loud as thunder in the subterranean emptiness.

Then they stopped.

Marceline set her down, keeping one hand on her shoulder so she wouldn't get lost. A dozen small rocks clattered underfoot, shifting and rolling with each step and making the path hazardous. She wondered why Marceline wasn't still carrying her, until she felt the vampire press one of the rocks into her hands. It was roughly the size of her palm, flat and disc-shaped. Pleasantly smooth and round, it rolled under her curious fingertips but did not seem to be special in any way.

"Blow," Marceline said in a low voice, very gently bringing Bonni's hands to her face.

So she did.

Light erupted along the stone's surface, pale sea-blue with jade splotches so dark they seemed like ink stains. Dropping the stone with a start, she took a few steps back on the shifting waves of the rocks pinching at her feet. Laughing, Marceline steadied her before she tripped, giving her another rock. "Do it again!" she commanded, grinning with all her teeth.

Bonnibel did it again, ready this time and giving it a long, even gust. The rock dazzled up at her again, salmon pink surrounded by wavering, buttery concentric rings. Setting it down on the ground next to the blue one, she grabbed another rock and eagerly blew a short puff on it. The results were a little disappointing. "This one looks exactly like glowing mucus," she announced, tossing it aside.

"They can't all be winners."

Bending down, Bonnibel gathered an armful of the strange little stones, sounding a low "Ahhhh" over them and grinning at the rainbow that tumbled out of her hands, sprinkling back onto the floor. "This is so cool!" She said. Noticing that Marceline was just watching her reaction, she wondered how many other people she had brought down here to play among the spectrum stones (as she had dubbed them in her mind).

Picking one up herself, Marceline whistled at it, the corners of her mouth turning down in sadness. "It never works for me," she said, turning it over in her hands, this way and that, over and over, as if she could deconstruct the mystery. "Only a living breath will do."

"What are they?" Bonnibel wondered, her words coloring a blood-red splotch that gradually lightened out into an orange sunset. Not waiting for an answer, she began to puzzle out their function for herself. "Maybe they react to carbon dioxide, and that's why they don't work for you. You don't actually need air, right?" Marceline nodded. "So you don't need to convert it inside your body, and it returns to the environment just as it was every time you speak, or do any other activity that requires air to travel through your larynx."

Tilting her head to and fro, Marceline measured the thought. "Could be. I've never really thought about it." Twisting her hands together, Marceline fidgeted even more with her stone, which refused to kindle under her dead breath. "Do you like it?"

"These?" Bonnibel asked, letting another handful of glowing rocks rain between her fingers. "I love it!" She tossed more into the air, confetti clacking as it struck its fellow on the cavern floor. Lost in her enthusiasm, she continued to test the rocks to see if any patterns emerged, if a warm, wet sigh produced a different hue than a thin stream of air. The shadows had long since receded, replaced by the aurora borealis she had constructed herself. "Can I take some home?"

"Would you like to?"

Bonnibel responded by bending over double and coughing. It was deep, and wet, and shook her whole frame. An unexpected reminder of the sickness that still held her under its grip, it didn't let go until she had spat out the gunk clogging up her chest. "Ewww," Marceline teased her even as she rubbed at her back. "You're right, that stone did look like mucus."

"Oh, shut up."

"Seriously though, you okay?"

Not willing to talk more than she had to, Bonnibel nodded.

"Wanna go home and maybe come back another night?"

After a pause, Bonni nodded again, leaning forward to rest her head on Marceline's shoulder. Stuffing some of the stones in her pockets, Marceline picked Bonni up without another word and returned the way they had come. The trip back was more leisurely than their initial flight, Marceline trying to go easy now that she realized she might have pushed Bonni too hard even as she had tried to get her to loosen up from work and have a little fun. They rose from that yawning black hole to fresh, inky midnight skies. The moonless night seemed bright in comparison to the caves. Again Marceline turned in midair so that Bonni was seated comfortably atop her belly, since she wasn't sure riding piggyback wouldn't tire her out. Besides, it was cozy. Seeing Marceline's face clearer than ever as she flew them home, her eyebrows furrowed in concern over her well-being, Bonni was uncomfortably aware of the affection blooming inside her like an ivy branch, threatening to spill out of her mouth and completely envelop her. "Thank you for taking me out, Marcy," she said, leaning down to hug her so that she didn't have to look into her worried eyes any longer.

Surprised, but not complaining, Marceline held here there by the back of her neck, planting a kiss on top of her head. "No problem."


End file.
